List of Best Workout Songs

by
KAY IRELAND Last Updated: Jul 20, 2015

Kay Ireland

Kay Ireland specializes in health, fitness and lifestyle topics. She is a support worker in the neonatal intensive care and antepartum units of her local hospital and recently became a certified group fitness instructor.

A woman is listening to music while working out.Photo Credit 4774344sean/iStock/Getty Images

Overview

Having the best workout songs that match the power, intensity and speed for your workout can help keep you motivated when at the gym, running on your own or lifting weights. Knowing the beats per minute can help you pick workout songs for warming up, peak performance and cooling down, and weight-lifting. Choose from a variety of hits from yesterday and today to create a workout song play list that will help you go the extra mile when you're working out.

Warming Up

A warm-up song should be within the 130 to 144 beats per minute range. That is fast enough to get you pumped up for your workout, but slow enough that you don't burn out before you hit your higher intensity stride. Try songs such as "Escape Me" by Tiesto, "Three" by Britney Spears, "Dollhouse" by Priscilla Renea or "Heads Will Roll" by Yeah Yeah Yeahs. These songs are ideal for getting pumped up while conserving your energy for the next portion of your workout. Use them to stretch or take a brisk walk on the treadmill to start.

High Intensity

Once you've warmed up, choose songs within the 142 to 160 beats per minute range to bring your intensity up to a higher level to increase your speed and power while you work out. Try songs such as "Dancing With Myself" by Billy Idol, "Body Language" by Jesse McCartney featuring T-Pain, "Scared Trickster" by Sonic Youth or "Best I Ever Had" by Drake. These faster-paced songs often sound slightly slower than some of the 130 beats per minute songs, but they have a faster speed thanks to the back beat.

Cooling Down

When you've hit your stride with a higher intensity workout, you'll need to cool down before you end your workout. To end your workout properly, choose songs with a mellow tempo, songs that calm you and are within the 122 to 132 beats per minute range. Try songs such as "The Best Days of Your Life" by Kellie Pickler, "Halo" by Beyonce, "It's My Life" by Bon Jovi, "We Are Golden" by Mika or "Uprising" by Muse.

Weight-Lifting

When weight-lifting, you want music that has a slow and steady pace that can help you time your repetitions so you aren't lifting too fast and not reaping the full benefit of a slower pace. Good weight-lifting songs can be found within the 116 to 124 beats per minute range, such as "Half of My Heart" by John Mayer and Taylor Swift, "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga, "Somebody to Love" by Leighton Meester and Robin Thicke, or "Break" by Three Days Grace." Concentrate on the beat as you raise and lower the weight for a perfectly timed weight-lifting session.

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